Last night, May 9, Phil Lesh & Friends took their live format to The Warfield in San Francisco. The performance arrived after the Grateful Dead bassist shared a video entitled The Clubhouse Sessions—Episode I, which took viewers behind the scenes and into band practice ahead of Thursday’s concert. Notably, the material included in the clip, a five-song run-through, did not percolate during the show; instead, the group of musicians worked on other classics from the Dead’s beloved canon, including a bust out of the Blind Willie Johnson original, “Nobody’s Fault but Mine.”
Thursday’s stand heated up with sister tunes “China Cat Sunflower” into traditional “I Know You Rider,” a fan-favorite pairing that allowed the lineup: Nicki Blume, Grahame Lesh, Jason Crosby, Daniel Donato, John Molo, and their frontman to test the sonic boundaries, adding layers in the form of instrumentals ornament. Classics continued to cascade with the arrival of “Truckin’,” which burst into “Nobody’s Fault but Mine,” a cover that entered the Dead’s sphere in 1966 and was revisited later in the band’s live performance history.
Creating an arc, Lesh and company reprised “Truckin’,” flanking either side of the night’s bust out, last played on May 4, 2019, in Las Vegas, with the American Beauty originator. Molo’s backbeat carried “Going Down the Road Feeling Bad,” which included defining guitar parts that inevitably gave way to a set closer and one of the San Francisco band’s Wake of the Flood stand-out, “Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo.”
After a break, the ensemble returned, noodling into a renewed feature of Lesh’s live archive, Chuck Berry’s “Promised Land,” which arrived on Lesh’s birthday show at The Capitol Theatre, representing a bust out, last played in 2018–last night’s take represented the second time the song has been played in 2024. Mellowing out the tempo, the group went with a reflective “Brokedown Palace” before adding some gas on “Jack Straw.”
“Eyes of the World” dotted the setlist next and merged into a contemplative “China Doll.” Rather than end with an overwhelming feeling of reflection harnessed to the latter, the group of musicians settled on “Sugar Magnolia” for the frame closer. Inevitably returning for an encore of “Uncle John’s Band.”
Following last night’s concert, Lesh announced his inclusion in Sunday Daydream Vol. 3 on July 21 at McNears Beach Park in San Rafael, Calif., where he and Stanley Jordan, Grahame Lesh, Mikaela Davis, John Molo, Dan ‘Lebo’ Lebowitz, and Jason Crosby will pay homage to the Dead’s July 21, 1974, in celebration of the 50th anniversary. Tickets are on sale now.
Scroll down to view last night’s setlist via setlist.FM.
Phil Lesh & Friends
The Warfield – San Francisco
May 9, 2024
Set I: China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider, Truckin’ > Nobody’s Fault but Mine+ > Truckin’ Reprise, Going Down the Road Feeling Band, Mississippi Half Step Uptown Toodeloo
Set II: Promised Land, Brokedown Palace, Jack Straw, Eyes of the World > China Doll, Sugar Magnolia
Enc.: Uncle John’s Band
Notes:
+ Bust out, last played May 4, 2019
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